Posts Tagged: Union
Activision’s union, with 600 members, is now the biggest one in video games
The number of unionized workers for Microsoft's video game subsidiaries keeps growing, and the latest group to join the pool is the largest one yet. Approximately 600 quality assurance workers at Activision have joined the Communications Workers of America (CWA), making them the biggest certified union in the US video game industry. They're also the first Activision workers to organize under the agreement between Microsoft and the CWA. If you'll recall, Microsoft agreed to respect the right of Activision Blizzard workers to unionize as part of its efforts to secure regulatory approval for its $ 68.7 billion takeover of the video game developer.
CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. said Microsoft kept its promise to let workers decide for themselves whether they want a union. Part of Microsoft's pledge when it agreed to make a pact with the CWA was that it would take neutral approach during a union campaign, and the company said it didn't interfere or influence people's votes.
Another element of their agreement was giving employees access to "innovative technology-supported and streamlined process for choosing whether to join a union," which includes not having to petition the National Labor Relations Board for an election. In this instance, the workers only had to sign a union authorization card or to vote online. According to The New York Times, 390 workers voted in favor of forming a union, while eight people were opposed to it. Around 200 more didn't cast their vote.
In early 2023, Microsoft also recognized a union with 300 workers for Zenimax, the owner of Bethesda and another one of the company's video gaming subsidiaries, which was the largest one for the video game industry at the time. Those workers also unionized under the simpler process enabled by the company's agreement with CWA. By the end of the year, Microsoft agreed to hire 77 temporary QA contractors as full-time unionized Zenimax employees, which was a welcomed win for workers in an industry beset by layoffs.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/activisions-union-with-600-members-is-now-the-biggest-one-in-video-games-143000869.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Google workers in Japan have joined a labor union in response to planned layoffs
Dozens of Google Japan employees have organized under the Tokyo Managers’ Union. It’s the first labor union at Google Japan, according to Meiji University Assistant Professor Ken Yamazaki, who also posted a copy of the group’s statements from a press conference. Apparently, the employees chose to organize out of fear that they could be abruptly laid off, especially since some of them are in Japan on work visas.
Their concerns stemmed from the tech giant’s announcement back in January that it’s cutting 12,000 jobs — that’s six percent of the company’s overall workforce — around the world. They said their counterparts in the US were terminated with just an email sent in the middle of the night, and that the Japanese office’s employees were left anxiously awaiting for the ax to fall over the past few weeks. The workers said they joined a labor union in response to that announcement and to news about the fate of the company’s employees in other countries.
For a dismissal to be legal in Japan, a company has to prove that it has reasonable grounds to terminate an employee. However, some companies terminate employees without good reason by claiming to have problems with the worker. The group is hoping that joining a union would protect them from sudden termination. In the US, one of the divisions most affected by the job cuts was the company’s Area 120 in-house incubator, which works on experimental apps and products. The division used to develop 20 projects simultaneously, but that’s now down to three after most people in the team lost their jobs.
When Google announced it was going to let 12,000 workers go, Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said he was “deeply sorry” and that he takes “full responsibility for the decisions that led [the company] here.” He admitted that the tech giant went on a hiring spree over the last few years, but that Google “hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.” According to the company’s latest earnings report, its revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022 grew one percent from the year before, but its quarterly net income was down 34 percent year-over-year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-workers-in-japan-joined-labor-union-064417794.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Tesla denies firing New York workers in retaliation for union activity
Tesla has denied that it terminated employees at its Buffalo, New York Autopilot facility in response to a new union campaign. Days after workers at the facility sent a letter to company chief Elon Musk stating their intention to unionize, the campaign's organizers accused the automaker of illegally terminating employees in retaliation. In a blog post, Tesla called their accusation a "false allegation" and said that those who were let go lost their jobs because of their own doing.
The company explained that it conducts performance reviews every six months and that workers are graded 1 to 5 for each cycle. It "helps them calibrate their work," Tesla wrote, and they will be let go if they fail to meet their performance expectations. These reviews are apparently conducted everywhere Tesla has a facility, with the most recent cycle covering July 2022 through December 2022. Tesla said it identified the people who will be let go on February 3rd, over a week before organizers sent their letter to Musk, and that managers were told way back in December that low performers will start exiting the company on the week of February 12th.
Moreover, the company explicitly stated that 4 percent of the employees on the Autopilot labeling team was let go due to their poor performance reviews. (Tesla said it only learned in hindsight that one out of the 27 impacted employees is part of the union campaign.) They received prior feedback, Tesla said, but "they did not demonstrate sufficient improvement." If you'll recall, the union organizers in Buffalo are in charge of labeling data for Autopilot. They previously told Bloomberg that they're fighting for better pay and working conditions that reduce production pressures.
The workers said Tesla monitors their keystrokes to determine how much time they spend on each task and how many hours they spend working in a day. They've reportedly been skipping bathroom breaks, as a result. But in Tesla's response, it said that time monitoring is only there "to calculate how long it takes to label an image," so "there is nothing to be gained by delaying bathroom breaks." The report that Tesla pressures its employees is "categorically false," it added. Tesla didn't mention anything regarding the employees' complaint about not having a voice in the company's though: Workers previously said that talks of forming a union began after management shut down an internal chatroom where they can air their grievances.
A second Apple Store union election will take place next month
Employees at an Apple Store in Towson, Maryland have set a date for their union election. Workers at the Towson Town Center location will vote in person over four days, starting on June 15th.
The organizers call themselves Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (AppleCore). They're aiming to unionize with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the group said "a solid majority" of staff supports the union drive. They said they are organizing "because of a deep love of our role as workers within the company and out of care for the company itself." They want "access to rights that we do not currently have" and for Apple to apply the same neutrality agreements it has with suppliers to workers, "so that as employees we can obtain our rights to information and collective bargaining that the law affords us through unionization."
They will be the second group of Apple Store workers to stage a union election. Those at the Cumberland Mall location in Atlanta will vote in early June on whether to join the Communications Workers of America (CWA).
Employees at Apple Stores other than the Towson and Atlanta locations are conducting union drives as well. Workers at the Grand Central Terminal store in New York City have been collecting signatures for a union vote.
While Apple has agreed to the elections in Maryland and Georgia, the company is reportedly fighting unionization efforts. It's said to have hired the same anti-union law firm as Starbucks. The company has also reportedly used anti-union talking points in pre-shift meetings at some locations. This week, workers at two stores accused Apple of union busting in Unfair Labor Practice filings.
Amazon allegedly called union organizers ‘thugs’ to discourage workers from unionizing
The National Labor Relations Board has accused Amazon of threatening, surveilling and interrogating workers at its JFK8 warehouse in New York to discourage them from unionizing. According to the board's complaint as seen by Motherboard, Amazon brought a union avoidance consultant to the facility and told employees that it "would be futile for them to select the Union as their bargaining representative." The consultant reportedly said that union organizing at the warehouse would fail anyway, because the organizers were "thugs."
NLRB's complaint also said that Amazon representatives interrogated workers about union activities and promised to fix their issues if they didn't support the union and didn't distribute union literature. Further, the labor board alleges that security guards confiscated union literature from workers and told them they couldn't distribute the materials without permission. If you'll recall, Amazon's warehouse workers in New York filed a petition to unionize with the board last year, but they had to withdraw it after failing to gather enough signatures to be approved. The JFK8 workers re-filed their application in December and recently reached union vote threshold.
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel denied the allegations to Motherboard, telling the publication: "These allegations are false and we look forward to showing that through this process."
These allegations come from a series of unfair labor practice charges filed by workers in May and June last year. The board investigated the incidents and found merit that they occurred. It has given Amazon February 10th to respond to the complaint and has set a hearing for it on April 5th. In addition to detailing workers' allegations in its complaint, the NLRB has also outlined a series of remedies it wants the company to follow. In particular, it wants Amazon to train its managers, supervisors, security guards and union avoidance consultants on workers' rights to organize and form unions.
State of the Union 2020: Live on YouTube
From breaking news to key moments, people around the world have been able to access important content and news through YouTube. As President Trump begins his fourth year in office, YouTube continues this tradition.
Like we have in the past, YouTube will live stream the President’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, February 4 at 9 p.m. ET, as well as the response from the Democratic Party. You can tune in to live streams in both English and Spanish. Here are the channels where you can follow the coverage:
- White House
- ABC News
- C-SPAN
- CBS News
- Fox News
- NBC News
- PBS NewsHour
- Telemundo
- Univision
- USA Today
- Wall Street Journal
- Washington Post
Olive Union Smart Ear hands-on: A stylish hearing device with tradeoffs
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State of the Union 2019: Live on YouTube
As we have done since 2010, YouTube will live stream the President’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, February 5 at 9 p.m. ET, as well as the response. This year, you can tune in to live streams in both English and Spanish. Here are the channels where you can follow the coverage:
- White House
- ABC News
- CBS News
- C-SPAN
- Fox News
- NBC News
- New York Times
- PBS NewsHour
- Telemundo
- Wall Street Journal
- Washington Post
Brandon Feldman, YouTube News and Politics
State of the Union 2018, live on YouTube
From conventions to inaugurations to presidential addresses, YouTube has brought you some of the biggest political moments in recent U.S. History. As President Trump begins his second year in office, YouTube is continuing this tradition.
For the ninth year, YouTube is live streaming coverage of the president’s State of the Union address along with the response from the Democratic Party. This year, you can tune into live streams from more sources than ever before in English and Spanish. Here are the many channels where you can follow the coverage:
- ABC News
- Bloomberg
- CBS News
- C-SPAN
- NBC News
- New York Times
- Telemundo
- Univision
- Washington Post
- White House
Head to YouTube on Tuesday, January 30, at 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET to watch the action live.
Brandon Feldman, YouTube News and Politics, recently watched ”History of the State of the Union.”
YouTube creators interview President Obama following his final State of the Union
(Cross-posted from the Google Blog.)
“We’re going to have 21st century fireside chats where I’ll speak directly to the American people in a way that I think will enhance democracy and strengthen our government. “ – Senator Barack Obama, November 15, 2007
Tomorrow evening, President Obama will deliver his final State of the Union address to Congress, which will broadcast live on YouTube. Then, as he has every year after the speech, he’ll turn to YouTube and Google to take questions from Americans about the issues that matter to them.
This Friday, January 15, Destin Sandlin, Ingrid Nilsen, and Adande Thorne—three popular YouTube creators—will travel to Washington, D.C. to host a live YouTube Interview with President Obama. They’ll join the President in the East Room of the White House, asking a selection of questions that are top of mind for them and their fans. You can watch the whole thing on the White House YouTube channel—and if you have a question for the President, suggest it by using the hashtag #YouTubeAsksObama on social media.
